Contributions of aerospace workers further cemented in Downey
Chuck Lowry speaks at a dedication ceremony Friday at the Columbia Memorial Space Center. Photo by Eric Pierce
DOWNEY — Downey has long been a special place in the world’s aerospace history. We are known as the Birthplace of the Apollo program, and astronauts came here regularly. Thirty-seven years ago this month, Queen Elizabeth II arrived, with a cavalcade of cars to check out a mock-up of the Space Shuttle and the Apollo 14 Command Module.
Enterprises of great pith and moment took place in Downey during the great 20th Century Space Race, and North American Aviation “is what put us on the world stage,” said many of the speakers at Friday’s ceremony.
The old-timers, the retired employees, were being honored at the Columbia Memorial Space Center, a museum that stands on the exact site where these men and women built the modules that carried humans into lunar orbit and lunar landings.
These men and women worked on the various aerospace programs in Downey. Friday wasn’t so much about the dazzling array of products manufactured here, but the workers themselves.
“We recognize your work, your love of country and your special skills,” said State Sen. Bon Archuleta. “Employees, raise your hands.” Some 60 in the audience did.
One of those recovered Apollo command modules hovers permanently beside the Space Center patio, where on Friday Space Center Director Ben Dickow opened the outdoor ceremonies honoring the dedicated retired employees of North American Aviation (through a series of mergers, North American Aviation later became known as North American Rockwell),
The weather cooperated, as if it were a day for a space shot. Under a pale February sky, shiny blue tarps covered two mysterious objects alongside a pocket park located on the entry patio to the museum. A pink-flowering Chinese magnolia and planters with red camellia bushes had been installed next to two concealed special gifts, identity to be revealed later.
Nader Moghaddam, president and CEO of Financial Partners Credit Union, speaks at a dedication ceremony Friday where two benches were installed honoring retired workers of North American Aviation.
An audience made up of the workers who came to Downey in the past, and their families and well-wishers, joined the dignitaries who celebrated their achievements. Foremost was the sponsor of the day, the Financial Partners Credit Union, an organization that began life as the North American Aviation Employees Federal Credit Union and now stands independently as the 35th largest credit union in the state of California.
“Special thanks,” said Gerald Blackburn of the Aerospace Legacy Foundation, “go to Ed Rusinek, Charles Lowery, and Ed Zadorozny who were responsible for making this all happen.”
I sat next to Ron Parrish, a toolmaker who came to Downey during those glory days. He lives in Hawthorne now but in 1972 he and 30,000 others made the commute to fill the acres of parking lots here every day, back when aerospace was king in Southern California, and Downey was the jewel in the crown.
“I worked on the B1 Bomber, and the Shuttle,” said Ron. “And when that blew up, my heart almost stopped. So many years, and then … all those people.”
The Space Center where we sat is the living memorial to that accident. Living because Dickow has made it a central point for school kids in the Los Angeles Basin to come to Downey to learn about aerospace history.
Ron showed me his arm. The tanned skin had white marks, a souvenir of his time here. “From work,” Ron said. “Exposure to the acids in the chemicals. I have a dermatitis, all these little white spots. Not contagious, but they were irritating.”
“Sitting right behind us,” said Ron, “is Dumont Wing. He worked here for 42 years.” I turned and waved. Both Ron and Dumont were wearing the blue caps with a trim that said North American Aviation on the brim. Ron offered to take a picture of Dumont for me, and Domont gave us a thumbs up.
Dickow, who has taken up the torch in continuing the space story so that it flows seamlessly from one accomplishment to the next, referred to the retirees as “the men and women who got us into space.” He recognized former mayor Dave Gafin and Councilman Alex Saab in attendance.
Mayor Blanca Pacheco welcomed special guests such as Gigi, Saab’s wife who stood with her fellow Downey school board members Donald LaPlante and Nancy Swenson.
State Sen. Bob Archuleta, Chuck Lowry, Nader Moghaddam and Councilman Alex Saab in front of the dedicated benches at the Columbia Memorial Space Center.
Kim Tachiki-Chin from Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard’s office told how she enthusiastically volunteered to come to Downey. She brought an illuminated plaque that read, “You retirees of NAA are responsible for where we are today.”
State Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia’s field representative also contributed a citation, and State Sen. Bob Archuleta arrived in time to present his testimonial.
“This is like the Super Bowl trophy,” he said. “Congratulations. There is only one.”
Long-time employee and one of Friday’s organizer, Chuck Landry, told a so-far unknown story about the first lunar landing.
“Mike Collins, who orbited the moon, watched while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the surface, and he wrote something on the wall of his command module,” Chuck said.
“We’ve just recently discovered it and it reads, ‘Spacecraft 107, alias Apollo 11, Columbia to us, the best ship to come down the line. God bless her.’
“That was his tribute to the Downey-produced capsule,” said Chuck. Ron sitting beside me gave a cheer.
To unveil the surprise of the afternoon, Director Ben called upon Chuck, who let the tarpaulins slip off, to reveal two magnificent black granite benches covered with etchings that commemorate the achievements of North American Aviation and were donated by Financial Partners Credit Union and the North American Aviation Bald Eagles Retirees Organization,
Ben Dickow, executive director of the Columbia Memorial Space Center. Photo by Eric Pierce
Were the slabs made of granite, I wondered, or maybe some super-space polymer? “They are “meant to last forever,” Chuck said, so maybe the latter. They are etched and emblazed with images of projects and names of divisions, from Vultee and Autonetics to Atomics International (the reactor was in the NAA Downey plant), to Rocketdyne, and the slogan, “Where the Best Never Rest.”
At the following reception set up inside the Space Center and ably organized by Lori Reeves, of Financial Partners Credit Union, many past employees were taking pictures of the citations which meant so much to them. Seeing this, Sen. Archuleta announced that a copy of his remarks would be sent to each and every one attending today.
Clever souvenir pens with fins and keychains with a flashlight were placed at the tables inside. And this is where the Downey web of connections showed their unique pattern. I spotted my fellow volunteer worker at the Downey City Library, Elsa Frasier, and sat down with her.
“Did you work for North American?” I asked. Elsa told me she had put in three years at the El Segundo facility. It was Elsa’s first job, and as a secretary she learned Gregg shorthand, anything so she could take down information faster and type up the reports she made for the engineers. That was before computers and the typewriter wasn’t electric.
“We had to get a secret clearance level too,” Elsa said. “That took forever.”
Sitting with her was her daughter Ramie Johnson, who will become the new head of the Gently Used Bookstore when the library re-opens this summer. Also at our table, Jo Ochoa and her husband Arthur who has served as president of the Library Board for the past several years.
To complete this particular loop, Dickow is also the acting director of the Downey Library, overseeing the complete tear-down and rebuild of the interior configuration. This crisscrossing of Downey people and institutions is what makes attending events like this a constant pleasure.
As I left I spoke with Jesse Vargas, a fellow Rotarian and also a board member of Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center foundation: one long-time Downey institution recognizing another. Jessie and I agreed that the silent star of the event was the recovered command capsule from the first Apollo lunar mission in 1969, now bathed in twilight on the grassy lawn.
20th century North American Aviation artifact stands in 21st century Downey.